This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

U.S. Panel Gives Nod to New Obesity Drug

A panel of independent experts on Thursday urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve the first new anti-obesity drug in more than a decade -- Lorcaserin, made by Arena Pharmaceuticals.

The committee voted 18-4 in favor of the drug, which works to control the appetite through receptors in the brain, after trial data showed it helped nearly half of patients studied lose up to five percent of their body weight.

The drug was rejected in 2010 by the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee, which advises the FDA, over concerns that it formed breast tumors in rats.

However, those effects did not appear in trials on overweight and obese humans, and the 18-4 vote showed strong support that its benefits outweigh the risks.

The FDA does not have to follow the advice of its advisory panel though it often does.

Among those taking a 10-milligram dose of Lorcaserin, the most common adverse events were headache, dizziness, nausea, fatigue and dry mouth.

"It is not very impressive, the weight loss, but it is better than a placebo," said Michael Aziz, an internist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "However, when people stop the drug they gain the weight back."